De los e



30, 1945- DE LOS E. HIBNER ETAL 2,368,612

PENDULUM TYPE SOOT BLO WER Filed Dec. 24, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jan. 30, 1945. DE LOS. E. HlBNER ETAL 2,368,612

PENDULUM TYPE SOOT BLOWER Filed Dec. 24, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Jan. 30, 1945 De Los E. Hibner and Fred C; Arey, Du Bois, Pa., assignors to Vulcan Soot Blower Corporation, a' corporation of Pennsylvania Application December 24, 1941, SerialNo. 424,222;

Claims.

It is common practice to provide steam power plants with soot blowers for removing soot and ashes from the surface of the tubes through the wall of which the water and steam are heated. In some installations the tubular jetting elements at all times remain in working position with respect to the tubes and are thus continuously subjected to the heat of the furnace. In other installations the tubular jetting elements are so mounted thatthey may swing, in the manner of a pendulum,- between an extended working position in the, heating zone and an idle .position beside the furnace wall where they are protected against the intense heat of the furnace while idle. The present invention relates particularly to this second type of apparatus and has for one of its objects to insure that the jetting elements are subjected to the cooling influence of the cleaning fluids at all times except vthen at rest in their idle positions.

7 It is also common practice to supply cleaning fluid, particularly steam; to the jetting elements through heads provided with means for turning .tubular blowing elements about their long axes and containing valves for controlling the flow of cleaning fluid, which valves are caused to open and close automatically at the ends of a cycle of operation. A further object of the present invention is so tomodify soot blower heads of this kind as, to permit'them to-swing jetting elements in the manner of a pendulum, or otherwise, in-

stead of rotating them, and automatically to supply steam or other cleaning fluid from the beginning of such swingingor other movement until the time an element is returned into its idle position.

'The various. features of novelty whereby our invention is characterized will hereinafter be pointed out with particularity in theclaims; but, for a full understanding of our invent-ion and of its objects and advantages, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings,

wherein:

Figure 1 is a more or less diagrammatic view in the nature of a vertical section through a furnace wall having one of our improved blower units mounted therein, the jetting element being shown in full lines in its idle position and in dotted lines in its working'position; Fig. 2 is a view partly in side elevation and partly in section, of one of the heads, a fragment of the element attached thereto, and the supporting housing from which the outer or cover section has scale, on line 3-3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a sectionon line 4-4 of Fig. 3, on a still larger scale; Fig. 5 is a section taken approximately on line 5-5 of Fig. 2; and Fig. 6 is a top plan view of a fragment of the operating shaft, the lever arm a for moving the pilot valve in one direction, and the cam for operating sai'dlever arm.

Referring to, the drawings, 1 represents a furnace wall having therein'a' lo'ng,"narrow, vertical opening in which is fitted and fixed a housing 2 open on the inner side of the furnace wall and projecting a substantial distance outwardly from the furnace wall. The housing may conveniently be' divided into two sections on a plane near' the outer end or side and parallel with'the fur-' nace wall; the outer section 3 being secured to the main portion of the housing in any-suitable way which permit separation of thetwo sections when desired. jClainp'ed between the two sections of the housing are two bearings4 through which extendsa rotatable tubular element 5 closed atone end and extending'at' its other end into a suitable head in which it is rotatable and from which it receives cleaning fluid. The mem her 5 forms with a short tubular section 6, of aboutthe' same'diameter as the member 5, a'T, the stem of which projects ,alittle' into the furnace chamber whenit is horizontal, as shown in to the furnace wall and to the axis of the tubular journal: portion 5. Normally, while no jetting orblowing is being done, the element 1 hangs down as shown in full lines in Figs. land 3, close to, the inner face of the'furnace wall. The working position of the element I is indicated in dotted lines in Figs. 1 and'B. 1

The blower head into which one end of the journal element 5 extends may be. substantially like that illustrated inourprior Patent No. 1,995,- 198,,name1ya hollow head portion, proper, 8 provided with a main valve 9 and apilot valve In, as indicated in Fig. 5, together with suitable means for holdingand turning the member 5.

Thus, the member 5 extends through a stationarygear'casing l I fixed to the head8, and thence head. The head asa whole is supported from a bee .removed; Fig. 3 isa section on a smaller. 56 suitable cantilever arm l3 fixed to and projecting one hundred eighty degrees.

laterally from the main section of the housing 2 above and parallel with the axis of the journal member 5. In the arrangement shown, there is a strap [4 extending around a cylindrical portion of the head, just behind the stufiing box namely,

accurate adjustments to be made in the verticals direction. The gear case may likewise be 8119- ported from the cantilever arm through an ear has thereon a laterally-projecting p-in M.

end of which is provided with an adjustable stop 39. adapted to engage with the outer end of the pilot valve stem 40 to push the pilot valve inwardly. The upper end of the lever extends into the vicinity of the shaft 21 and the sleeve 30 and This pin is adapted to be engaged by a spring-pressed latch; 42 to hold the lever inwhatmaybe termed its Working: position, namely thatposition in which the pilot valve has been pushed back so as 1 10. cause the main valve to open. Whenever it is or ears I8. Within the gear casing; is a. large gear wheel [9 fixed to. the-journal member i.

Meshing with this gear wheel is a pinion fixed?" to a shaft 2i lying above the hollow head 8i and parallel with the axis of the journal member;

Upon turning the shaft 2| in one direction-tide jetting element 1 is caused to swing from its idle positioninto, itsfworking position whereas, upon reversing the direction, of; rotation of'the shaft the.v jetting element. is. returned. to its idle position. In order to counter-balance theijetting element so. that' it will tend to remain in any angul'ar position into whichit is moved, we fix upon the free closed'end of the tubular journal membet 5 a. large gear Wheel 22 thatmeshes with a Pinion 2E rotatable. Qna horizontalistub shaft 25' projecting, from. the. main section ofthe housing" 2 on; the sideopposfte from that on which the Act the. latch.

free to do so, the latch assumes a latching position-inwhich the pin 4| engages with an end edge 30. This, cam and the lug 36 may conveniently cantilever arm is located. This. pinion may be. I

on or constitute the hub; of a sheave 2t; upon whichiswounda cable 21.. From the cablehangs; a weight 28;. The sheave is preferably provided with .a, spiral groove v29 for a cable which causes the. leverage of the counter-balancing weight to vary with the angle; at'whifch, the tubular jetting element may. be standing atanygiveninstantr It. isv desired, as in our, aforesaid patent; that the. pilot; valve be operated. and cause the main steam valve to oped, upon turning the. shaft 21., Howey'erpit is our desire that'steam. be admitted to the jetting element before the, same leaves its; idleposition where, it i protected against theheat sleeve.

constitute a single integral piece fixed to the Normally, when the jetting element is hanging down in its idle position, the lug 36 may beinengagement with the righthand side oft-he lug 31 as viewed irrF'ig. 5, so-thatthe cam 44 is' remote from the cam roller 45 on the ex trerne upper endof the-lever 38. When the hand wheel is turned" for the purpose of starting a blowingoperation; the first result is for: the cam to come-into contact with the earn-roller so as to; shift the lever and cause the pilot: valve: to be actuated; A continued turning of the sleeve andcam brings the lug 35 into engagemerit with the lefthand side of; the lug 31 so that now theshaft- 21 begin toturn. Before the cam leaves the" cam roller, the latch must;

. be permitted to drop' in front of thepin 41 on,

through a sleeve. 3.0. through. which the actual driving ofv this shaft. is effected. V The; sleeve 30 extends into.- a. gear c-asing iit provided with a, long tubular stem 32, through which. extends an operatingshaftflf, The tubular stem with the enclosed, shaft 3.4-. extend. down from, the head, f

preferably ina manner-.t diver'ge. somewhat from the face. of. the furnace wall On' the lo-werend of the shaft 34 is a 'hand wheeIiS so that, y

turning the hand wheel, thesleeve tfll may be turned in. ither direction; The, actual driving of. the shaft 2|. is effected through engagement of; a lug 38 projecting radially from the sleeve 30,

with a lug 3'l'fixedi to the shaft ZI; Thispermits relative rotary movements between th sleeve 30;

and the shaft. 2f throughlan angle; of more than.

This lost motion shaft extends i-ntothe gear casing lll'where it is provided Wi-t-h' a radial-finger 41" lying in the path ofalug ldiprojecting from the face of the gear whee1 19-1 The'part's are Isoproportioned that whenever the 'j'etting' element is just about to reachits idle position, the lug 48 engages the finger" w and turns the shaft 46 through a: small angle by the time thatthe jetting element comes to rest. The shaft fli extends into the vicinity or the latch 42 and isthereprovided with a'sec- 0nd radial finger' la from the side of which pro jec-tsa pin 50 that engages with-the side of a downwardly-extending part- 5! on the-end of the latch farthest removed from the pilotvalve actuating levera The. parts-are so proportioned that at'thetime the'jetting element comes to rest in its idle position the pin 50 holds the latch in aboutthe positionillustrated in Fig. 5, namely;- with its latching-end alittle-below the path of travel of thepin-4 t 'onithe lever 38. "Consequentl y, as soon as'the-jetting element reaches its idle position, the l'atchqis tripped and, the cam'M bei'ngnow remote from the'eam roller,

the-lever 38' is' nolo'nger-restrained; andthe pilot valve can force it to swing in a clockwise and the shutting off of the steam supply tothe direction, as viewed in Fig. 5,- thereby bringing about a closingyof the-main valve in the head jetting element. I v

Since the latch is locked in; an inoperative position while the jettingelement is in its idle position, the latch must be released from this restraint while the'cam' isstillengfiging" with the, cam rollen Consequently, the oa'm is so shaped that ithqlds 'lEVBTfiIl, position tdkerr the: pilot valve open until after the 'Iugtd has engaged the lug 31 and has caused the shaft 2| to turn far enough to free the latchand allow it to snap up in front of the pinll on the actuating lever for the pilot valve.

It will therefore be seen that we have provided means for insuring that cooling fluid will always flow through th jetting element, as long as there is a supply of such fluid available, while said element is in any other position than that in which it is least influenced by the furnace heat. For this reason the jetting element possesses a longer useful life than is true in other installations embodying jetting elements that remain in the furnace chambers at all times as does our jetting element.

While we have illustrated and described with particularity only a single preferred form of our invention, we do not desire to be limited to the exact structural details thus illustrated and described; but intend to cover all forms and arrangements which come within the following definitions of our invention, in which the expression working position includes any of the various positions which the jetting element may assume upon being shifted out of its idle position.

We claim:

1. In combination, a tubular blowing element supported for swinging movements between an idle position and a working position, means including a valve for admitting cleaning fluid to' said element whenever the valve is open, means acting first to open said valve and then to swing said element from its idle position to its working position, and back again to the idle position, and means, including a part on and movable with said element, to cause the valve to close when said element reaches its idle position.

2. In combination, a tubular blowing element supported for swinging movements between an idle position and a working position, means including a self-closing valve for admitting cleaning fluid to said element whenever the valve is open, a catch to hold the valve open after being opened, means acting first to open said valve and then to swing said element from its idle position to the working position and back again to the idle position, and means actuated by said element to trip the catch when-said element returns to the idle position.

3. In combination, a tubular blowing element supported at one end for swinging movements about an axis parallel to the axis about which the element swings and connected to the latter for rotation in unison therewith, a weighted cable wound on said sheave to counter-balance said element, means including a valve for admitting cleaning fluid to said element, means to' opensaid valve and to swing said element from its idle position to its working position, and

back again to the idle position, and means, including a part on and movable with said element,- to cause the valve to close when said element reaches its idle position.

4. In combination, a tubular blowing element supported at one end for swinging movements about a horizontal axis between an idle position and a working position, a sheave rotatable about.

an axis parallel to the axis about which the element swings and connected to the latter for rotation in unison therewith, a weighted cable wound on said sheave to counter-balance said element, means including a self-closing valve for admitting cleaning fluid to said element, a catch to hold the valve open after being opened, means to open said valve and to swing said element from its idle position to the working position and back again to the idle position, and means actuated-by said element to trip the catch when said element returns to the idle position.

5. The improvement in a blower unit wherein there is a rotatable tubular member, a twoposition movable element for controlling the, admission to said member of fluid to be discharged, a latch to hold said element in one of its positions, a part driven by said tubular member to trip and hold the latch when said member is in a predetermined angular position, and a shaft for turning said tubular member: which ,com- I prises-an actuator for the shaft having a limited movement relative thereto about the axis of the ,shaft, and a cam on said actuator for moving said element far enough to cause fluid to-be admitted to said tubular member before th lost motion between the actuator and the shaft is taken up upon moving the actuatorin one direction and then to hold said" element in position to be latched while the shaft is turned far enough to cause said part-driven by the tubular member to release the latch. I

DELOS E. HIBNER, FRED C. AREY.

about. a horizontal axis between an idle position and a working position, a sheave rotatable 

